


Un seul bonheur

by i_dreamthedream



Series: Always hopeful of romance and adventure [5]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: 5+1 Things, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Gen, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Paris - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-24
Updated: 2017-02-24
Packaged: 2018-09-26 16:47:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9911945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/i_dreamthedream/pseuds/i_dreamthedream
Summary: In overall it only took Alex five years, a lot of overthinking and John being himself to gather the courage to finally ask the questionOr five times Alex wanted to propose to John and one time he did





	

**Author's Note:**

> Hey friends, told you I had something fluffy in store :D 
> 
> Follow your two favorite idiots during five years of their lives with Alex being so in love with his boyfriend that he wants to marry him. You may wanna read the other works in the serie for this to make total sense. If not, just know that Alex met John when he was traveling in Paris, they spent two magical days there together and then he went back to NYC. But he was missing John so he moved to Paris on impulse to be with him because he's romantic (and crazy) like that! 
> 
> Hope you like it, this was really fun to write <3

**"Il n’y a qu’un seul bonheur dans la vie, c’est d’aimer et d’être aimé" George Sand  
**

 

1.

 

**Paris, 11 th arrondissement **

**August 2010**

Lust was a very powerful emotion, Alex knew that. And after all the time he hade gone without sex, it didn’t come as a surprised that the first few hours of his and John’s _reunion_ were spent in bed and didn’t involved any clothes.

It was more than that though and he knew it. After all, if it was just about sex, he wouldn’t have crossed a fucking ocean. No, it was about how _alive_ he had felt when he and John had wandered around Paris in May, how carefree.

Whatever it was that Alex was feeling around John – and he didn’t dare to even think _that_ word quite yet – Alexander was willing to do just about anything to keep feeling it. They were side by side on John’s bed, both still slightly out of breath.

“I don’t think I can go another round without a refill,” Alex admitted.

John laughed. They were close so Alex could feel it vibrate at his side. John kissed the bare skin of his shoulder. That felt deeply intimate. Which was a ridiculous thing to think giving what they’d just done and that they were currently both very naked.

“Well how about ordering food and watching the Doctor?” John smiled at him.

“A man after my own heart,” Alexander pretended to swoon.

John chuckled. “We should take a shower before though,” he said.

“Is that an invitation?” Alex raised an eyebrow. “I thought we had established we weren’t having sex again just yet.”

“Well I never said anything about shower-sex,” John rolled his eyes. Alex pouted. John brushed his lips against his. “I’ll let you convince me later,” he promised. “In the meantime, get your ass out of bed!”

Alex giggled and complied. John let him used his weird shampoo for curly hair and the two of them relaxed and kissed under the hot spray.

John got Alex a towel and some of his clothes since they hadn’t exactly planned for this to happen. Well Alexander couldn’t say he hadn’t hoped. John’s clothes were too big on him. He had to refold the sleeves and he kept tripping over the too long sweatpants. John pretended he wasn’t laughing as he ordered pizza. Alex glared at him.

“I refrained to order Hawaiian. I refuse to engage the subject of pineapple on pizza literally hours after we started dating,” John said after he had hanged up.

“Dating?” Alex echoed, feeling something tingled in his chest at the word.

John shrugged. “I did ask you out earlier, didn’t I?”

“On a date we haven’t been on yet,” Alex reminded him. Why on Earth was he arguing with John on this again?

“Ok, let’s recap here,” John said, sounding amused. “You showed up on my doorstep, said you’ve moved to _another continent_ because you quote-have fallen-unquote for me and I’m pretty sure we’ve broken a lath with all the sex we’ve been having. Yet you think that calling ourselves boyfriends is too big of a step?”

Alex was blushing. John was right. He went behind him and dropped a kiss on Alexander’s nape. “You’re cute,” he said and went to get them glasses.

“Good thing you think that,” Alex managed to say, “Since we’re dating.”

“Are we?” John smirked as he deposited the glasses on the coffee table. “I wasn’t aware.”

“Shut up,” Alex pouted again.

John only shook his head and served them the same fruity rosé than last time. The memory made Alex smile fondly. The pizza arrived shortly and they ate it eagerly. Turned out their, ah, _physical activities_ had left them with quite an appetite. Alex had fished his phone from his jean pocket in the bedroom and put on some music. The same fond smile appeared on John’s lips when he recognized Louis Armstrong.

When the pizza was gone and that they had blissfully no dished to wash, they retreated to the bedroom. John took his laptop and settled it between them on the bed.

“Which season?” his boyfriend – _boyfriend! –_ asked him.

“Anything with Donna Noble,” Alexander shrugged.

“Gotcha,” John nodded.

They watched _The fires of Pompeii_ and Alex didn’t miss the way John kept getting closer to him. When the credits rolled, he and John were snuggling, John’s head on his chest and he seemed very sleepy.

“You’re staying the night right?” he asked.

“Do I look like I’m going anywhere?” Alex replied as he put the laptop away to settle more comfortably on the bed.

“Hum,” John said. “Sorry about the shower sex,” he mumbled. “You can convince me some other time.”

“I’ll hold you onto that,” Alex chuckled. He kissed John’s forehead. “Goodnight.”

_“Bonne nuit.”_

But Alex was still awake long after John’s breathing had evened out. He was looking at the hand that was holding at his hip. A thought had occurred to him, out of nowhere and quite alarming. _What would it look like with a ring on it?_

He was insane, that had to be it. They hadn’t even been officially together for a full day! What was wrong with him?

He breathed out, shaking away the irrational part of his brain, which wanted nothing more than waking up John and propose right now.

 _One step at a time,_ he reminded himself. He closed his eyes. They would see where that relationship would lead them. If it happened to be at the altar, Alex was apparently very ok with that.

 

2.

 

**Paris, Champ de Mars, 7 th arrondissement **

**July 2011**

Summer in Paris was a real wonder. It was his first one since he only arrived late August last year. For the first time he experienced the city without the flood of working people in the subway every morning and every night. There were a lot of tourists but those were way more polite and if needed, easy to ignore.

Even going to work seemed to be more enjoyable now that the days were longer and warmer. The nights were nice too.

There were a lot of music festivals around town and they would also spend nights by the Seine with their friends, with good music and alcohol. Alex loved every second of it.

On the Fourth they went to get greasy burgers. It was good enough American tradition for them, especially since John as still a little shaky since the last time they went to the States.

Now it was ten days later and Alexander’s first Bastille Day.

During the day, they’d watched the Military Parade on TV and then the Presidential intervention. Alex had been throwing insults at the guy all along. John had almost felt sorry for him.

Everyone of their little group was reunited by the River while waiting for the fireworks. Alex had wanted to go back to the Champ de Mars to see the lightings on the Tower and then the classical concert. John had convinced him to renounce it since the place would be crowded anyway. Beside they could pretty much see and hear everything from their spot.

The night was clear and warm. Adrienne had brought a plaid, Herc was in charge of the chips and Laf of the alcohol. That was their magic recipe for their night of party. Alex was the music and John was photographing.

When the clock stroke eight o’clock, the fireworks began. Alex was grinning like an idiot. This was no different than the ones he’d seen in New York but the mere idea of being here, in Paris where he lived now and see the fireworks on Bastille Day seemed surreal. Even a year ago, it would have seemed like a foolish dream, a useless fantasy. But it was no longer. It was real. He had a group of friends – another! – and a great boyfriend by his side. He had a new job he liked with nobody in the office that could compare to Jefferson in terms of assholery and John had moved in with him.

Maybe dreaming was not so foolish after all.

He looked at John, who had let go off his camera to enjoy the spectacle. The lights were illuminating his face. He was so beautiful.

 _And mine,_ Alexander thought almost ferociously. _He’s mine and I’m his, forever!_

Wait what? Since when Alexander Hamilton thought of forever? Since when was he no longer cautious because a hurricane could always swipe away every thing you have?

He already knew the answer.

Since he kissed that man in Paris last year and somehow knew that forever wouldn’t be long enough.

He’d seen unconditional love. He’d seen it in Aaron’s eyes, in Theo’s smile, in Angelica’s challenging rise of eyebrows, Church’s wink, in Gilbert’s grin and Adri’s thumb up. And he thought he’d seen it in a fond sigh during Doctor Who night. And he knew it was there on his face as he was watching John.

So maybe, just maybe the two of them could get a happily ever after.

He could almost picture them a few years older, with kids and pets – because of course John would convince him to get one eventually – and rings and so happy. Yeah he wanted that. He wanted to be able to go down on one knee and ask John to spend eternity with him. But he couldn’t, not just yet.

The law wasn’t on their side. They’d have to wait. But it wouldn’t be long now, he could feel it. Any day.

 

3.

**Paris, Place Vendôme, 1 st arrondissement **

**May 2013**

When the bill passed on May 17th, Alex and John went out to celebrate with their friends. They went to the Marais and danced and kissed with no care in the world.

It wasn’t all. Legalizing gay marriage was only a step. It wouldn’t stop the homophobia, they knew. But it didn’t matter that night. That night, they’d _won._ Alex remembered that he and John never let go of each other all night.

The next day, John and he were on their couch. John was napping, no longer used to pull out all-nighters since he had graduated. The TV was on. It was BFM TV and the news channel was still covering the news.

Excitement was building up in Alexander’s stomach. It barely felt real, with all the homophobic protests of the last months.

He huffed _. La Manif pour Tous!_ Damn those guys were idiots. The “we’re not anti-gay, we’re just protecting Christian family values” type. Each time he saw one of them on TV, he wanted to throw away the screen by the window. His twitter account had turned into a war zone where he kept dueling one of those guys since they came from the Middle Age anyway.

Even John – who hated them with a burning passion – had to cut him off of Internet because he would never let go: _“Those are homophobic idiots, you won’t convince them! Now go to sleep!”_

But in the end, it was their voice that had been heard. Their protests – John and he had come every time they could – were the ones people would remember.

John shifted and went to rest his head on Alexander’s lap. Alex sighed and looked at him. Damn he was so in love! So much he almost wanted to cry. And if he did shed a few tears, well he would blame it on the alcohol from last night.

He stared at John and then looked back at the screen. And suddenly, it hit him like a ton of bricks. _He and John could get married!_ It was possible, it was legal! What a time to be alive…

Would John want to marry him? For real? _Wait_ did Alex even want to get married?

He did. It was as simple as that. And it wasn’t even frightening. It didn’t send panic cursing through his veins, instead it filled him with a new sense of calm. He and John were going to spend the rest of their life together. He didn’t doubt it. He wanted it. So why not put on ring on that?

He pulled out his phone and sent a message to Laf. His friend, albeit a bit surprised, accepted to come with him for ring shopping.

Which brought them to now, at one of the most posh places of Paris. Laf had insisted they came here, even though the prices made Alexander’s skin crawled.

 _“Au pire tu auras une idée de ce que tu veux, t’es pas obligé d’acheter quelque chose aujourd’hui!”_ Laf had said.

 _“Je t’ai dit que je comptais pas le demander en mariage tout de suite! Pas la peine d’essayer de me faire changer d’avis!”_ Alex protested.

 _“Comme si j’avais ce pouvoir,”_ Laf laughed.

Alex shrugged. Laf had a point.

They tried a lot of shops. All of them with nice white ladies offering them plastered smiles and _‘Je peux vous aider?’_ Laf was his usual charming self, chatting amicably with them while Alex was scanning the rings.

He didn’t want a rock, because those were too flashy and John didn’t like that. His boyfriend would rather have the attention focused on his work, on his art rather than on himself. Alex was the exception to that rule.

He had made some rapid maths in his head. He knew how much of his savings he could spare. Both he and John had steady salaries now, even if his was still significantly higher than John’s. They had resolved that problem by opening a joint account with an automatic transfer from both their personal account every month. So his budget wasn’t small per say but most of those rings still cost twice as much.

Damn he hated rich people! Well except for Laf and Adri, they were ok.

He was about to give up, to tell Laf that they’ll try again some other day in a cheaper area when he spotted something. One of the jewelry shops was doing sales on wedding rings in celebration of the new legislation!

That had to be a sign right?

He tugged at Lafayette’s sleeves and together they walked toward there. The saleswoman welcomed them kindly and Alex asked to see the wedding rings.

 _“Nothing too fancy, I can’t put too much into it unfortunately,”_ he said in French.

 _“I’m sure we’ll find something,”_ she replied with a smile.

She presented him the different models they had and the discount allowed him a bigger margin of choice. He sighed in relief.

He scanned the bands and his eyes settled on a silver one. It was simple but elegant. He nudged Laf and his friend grinned in approval.

 _“I’ll take this one,”_ he told the woman who nodded. He paid and she gave him the ring in a little velvet box.

Lafayette insisted on buying him coffee to celebrate even though Alex kept telling him that he wouldn’t propose right away.

“You’re getting free coffee, stop complaining!” Laf shot him and effectively won the argument.

Alex came back home a little after five. John was already there, reading the newspaper on the couch. The cat was napping at his feet. He was wearing his jeans with holes in them and some nerdy tee shirt about those superheroes comics he loved. His hair was falling free around his head, so many messy curls.

Alex was frozen in place for a second.

This. This was what he wanted. This was home.

He almost wanted to drop on one knee right now and start the rest of their life. He didn’t. Instead he dropped a kiss on John’s neck and said he would take a shower. He hid the box in his nightstand drawer – it was such a mess in there that he was confident John wouldn’t find it until he thought of a place less obvious – and went to the bathroom.

When he shut the door, he heard John cooing at the cat in Spanish and laughing. Something in his chest swelled. Yeah, this was home.

 

4.

 

**Strasbourg, Alsace**

**November 2013**

“It’s cold as balls here,” Alexander groaned.

“Well it’s Strasbourg in winter, what did you expect?” John laughed from the other end of the line.

Alexander adjusted his cellphone between his ear and shoulder and looked at the fog by the window of his hotel room. Weather was awful this year and for all lovely Alsace was in summer, winter was really horrible. Alex was on a weeklong stay for work. He had been there two days already and he was slowly going nuts.

The people he was meeting were getting on his nerves. At that point he wasn’t sure that they weren’t playing dumb on purpose. The fact that he was going back to an empty hotel room and not their shared apartment clearly didn’t help.

Fortunately John would indulge him every night for a phone call. They talked for hours, with John teasing him about being grouchy. Alex would deny it with a pout, perfectly aware of how contradictory that was.

It was southing, the sound of John laughing in his ear, familiar. Alex almost melted on his bed.

“Miss you,” he grumbled. He sounded like a little child, he knew.

“I miss you too,” John replied softly. “Feels a little stupid no? It’s only been a few days.”

“I know,” Alex said. “Are we becoming one of these couples?”

“Are you realizing only now that we’re weirdly codependent?” John smirked. “Adrienne has only been hinting that since we got together.”

“Yeah I know,” Alexander smiled. “I didn’t want to admit it to myself.”

“And now that you do?”

“Denial is a powerful thing.”

John chuckled.

“So what are you bringing me back?” John asked. “A postcard? The other fifty-one are feeling lonely!”

“Oh shut up! And there aren’t so many by the way!”

“There are actually,” John said, kinda smug. “I counted them earlier.”

“You counted?” Alex repeated. He let the information sinking in and suddenly he realized: “You’re bored!”

“Hum… Yeah kinda,” John admitted.

Alex was grinning. And he might have done a little victory dance but no one saw it.

“You’re bored, you’re missing me!”

“I said that five minutes ago!” John exclaimed. “Why are you so smug about it?”

“I just like the fact that I’m not the only one affected,” Alexander smiled.

“Alright,” John said. “But all of this aside, you’re getting me a postcard right?”

“I bought several today after work,” Alex grumbled.

“You’re a sap!”

“And you love it,” Alex shot back.

“Well, they look kinda nice on the thread with the clothes pins,” John said thoughtfully. Alex imagined him walking around in the bedroom with a smile. Truth be told, Alex loved that thread that John had put on by the window. He loved that John would put on display Alexander’s postcards. He had been adamant since they’d come back from Mexico. It was their travels, each step of their story.

Alex bit his lips.

He was so tempted to add the next one. He’d been thinking about actually proposing to John a lot lately. He had the ring for six months now and he wanted it to be perfect.

He had a few ideas in store. Still more than once, he’d just been seconds away from blurting out his proposal by accident. Like right now.

Because John was telling something about his day, rambling and the sound of his voice was enough to bring Alexander back home.

He wouldn’t give John a cheap phone proposal, but the idea was tempting. Very tempting. Alexander closed his eyes and took a deep breath before answering John’s question. He smiled. He would call this man his husband someday. That was enough for now.

 

5.

 

**Parc de la Courneuve, Seine-Saint-Denis**

**September 2014**

The sole concept of a festival organized by the communist party was enough to have Alex completely thrown off. In the States, ‘socialist’ was one of the worst insults a politician could throw at another and those guys were _proud_ to call themselves communist? So yeah there were part of him that would always be American he supposed.

Still it wasn’t that bad. There were conferences, debates on the current political situation and some people were interesting even if he was far from wholly agreeing with it all.

And of course, there was the music. It was incredible that the three-day pass was only 23 euros with great bands in the program. Come on! Scorpions was playing later! Well that was the communist philosophy, he supposed.

John had instructed him to wear the worst clothes he owned – “because at best, you’re gonna be dusty but at worst, you’ll be literally covered in mud!” – so Alex had complied. Thankfully, it wasn’t raining even if it was chilly for the beginning of September.

The main stage was in the middle of the park and their shoes were now in a mixture of green and brown. The crowd was big but manageable as it was still early. John was dancing to the music with an enthusiastic Adrienne. Hercules and Laf came back with their beers. Alex accepted his gratefully.

 _“Alors?”_ Laf asked. _“Verdict?”_

 _“Pas mal,”_ Alexander admitted, chuckling. “I’m not taking my card anytime soon though!”

Lafayette laughed. “I so wished I’d known you when I was at university!”

“What? Your anarchist times?” Alex teased.

“Never an anarchist,” Lafayette shook his head. “Still, I was very left on the political spectrum!’

“You still are,” Alex pointed out.

“Yeah, but the reason why is because when we had a party, we would put on _L’internationale_ and songs from the USSR and sing at the top of our lungs,” he smirked. “Your American ass wouldn’t have survived it!”

Alex let out a horrified noise. “Seriously?”

“Yes! It was fun!”

“Do I need to explain to you all that is wrong with communism?”

“Do I need to tell you all that’s failing with your great capitalism?” Laf shot back. “We were young, we dreamt of changing the system, changing things…”

“And now?”

Laf sighed. “I’m more realist I guess. I know it won’t happen tomorrow, I know it will probably not even happen in my lifetime. But I keep coming here, it’s a reminder.”

“Of what?” Alex for all he tried really couldn’t understand his friend on this.

“Of what we could be,” Laf smiled. “ _Fête de l’Humanité, c’est ambitieux mais c’est beau.”_

“It’s named after a newspaper,” Alexander reminded him.

“And what’s the newspaper named after?” Laf paused for a second. “You know what was said in the first French Constitution?”

“You’ll have to be more specific,” Alex chuckled.

“It said that the goal of the government should be to grant _happiness_ to every citizen,” Laf said. “The American Constitution states that everybody is allowed to spend their life trying.”

“Yeah, it’s more realistic this way. And that Constitution is still legal, the one you’re referring was never in place!”

“I know it’s not realistic Alexander, it’s the _point!”_ Laf exclaimed, exasperated. “I don’t think we’ll ever reach a communist society but I still think that’s something we should be leaning toward! Not a society where life is a race, happiness a prize and everything, even your health has a price! Don’t you want that? A place where the color of your skin doesn’t matter? Or how much money you have? Or who you love?”

Alex turned automatically his head toward John. His boyfriend was laughing with Adrienne and Hercules and flashed him a bright smile when he caught his eyes. Alex stopped breathing.

“I don’t think the communist party should ever come to power here,” Laf added quietly. Yeah not a great place to say that. “They’re way better influencing the ones in power, especially if those are leftists. They’re pretty vocal. They’ve been for the equal marriage law.”

Alex nodded. He was still watching John. He was still in awe in front of that man who managed to still be goddamn beautiful in those horrible clothes he’d put on. They were stained with paint and some holes had been attended very poorly. Hercules had almost fainted earlier when he saw it.

Still, of course he wanted to live in a society where their love would be not only legal but also accepted, celebrated. And even if that wasn’t exactly the case, they could still get married now. That was progress.

He looked down at his hands. Bare. Like John’s.

He really needed to change that. Not today but soon, because _not_ being engaged to John was getting harder and harder each day.

 

\+ 1

 

**Paris, 18 th arrondissement **

**June 2015**

The smell of paint hit Alex like a brick when he entered the apartment. Now the smell wasn’t so unusual – John did use the study for his work on multiple occasions – but he always made sure to close the door. Also he usually told Alex in advance just because he was charming like that. Alexander glanced toward the study and to his immense surprise, found it empty. He deposited his briefcase by the desk and loosened his tie.

He heard someone – and by that he meant John – curse from the bedroom.

He saw the cat hiding under the sofa when he crossed the living room, probably bothered by the fumes. The bedroom door was ajar and Alex could see had all their furniture was covered with plastic bags.

John was in the middle of the room, standing on a stepladder. He had tied his hair into a messy ponytail and was wearing a white mask. He had several cans of paint next to him and his clothes were covered in little blue and yellow stains. The window was open but it did very little to council the smell.

Alexander cleared his throat and John looked down from his spot to look at him.

“Hey babe,” he said without a hint of shame or embarrassment.

“Uh,” Alex replied eloquently.

“Did you have a good day? How was work?” John continued to be oblivious. Was Alex hallucinating?

“John?” he asked cautiously. “What are you doing?”

“I’m painting our bedroom ceiling,” John answered.

“Ok,” Alex said. When John didn’t elaborate, he added: “Why are you painting our bedroom ceiling?”

“Just thought it would be nicer than plain white,” John shrugged. If Alexander weren’t frozen in shock, he would be pulling his hair out. “And I finished early at work today so…”

“And when will you be finished?” Alex sighed. He probably should be angry that John took a decision about _their_ apartment and _their_ bedroom without consulting him, he realized. Then again, it wasn’t news that John often got very spontaneous and very peculiar ideas out of nowhere and wouldn’t rest until he saw them through. This one was far from the craziest so Alex supposed he should be grateful. Worst case scenario would be them covering what John had done by white paint.

“Couple of days probably,” John said distantly, focused on his work.

 _“What?!”_ Alexander shrieked. “And where are we supposed to sleep until then?”

“Mulligan is bringing his air mattress so we can settle it in the office.”

“Air mattress?” Alex repeated.

“Yeah it’s camping stuff, super confortable. Or so he told me on numerous occasions after he bought it,” John was still more focused on the ceiling than on their conversation. Alex was starting to feel offended.

“Look,” John said, finally looking at him. “I’m sorry I should have told you but I have this huge spark of creativity coming from God knows where and my therapist said I should pursue those so…”

“Yeah well,” Alex grumbled. He wasn’t about to get in the way of something that was good for John’s mental health. “You’ll be the one hearing me complaining about my sore back all week!”

“Your back will be fine, _¡viejito_ _!”_ John shot back.

“Shut up! I’m going to the office and then I’m ordering Chinese for dinner!”

“Love you too!”

The next days were weekend. John didn’t have to work so he spent almost all his time in their room, painting. He forbade Alex to come in, saying the design was going to be a surprise and Alex didn’t protest. Mulligan had come to bring the mattress and he was right, it was pretty confortable. Not the same as their memory foam but still.

Alexander spent the days working in his office. He skyped with Aaron and Theo as he did every month, cuddled with the cat and then he went for a walk with Adrienne on Sunday. When he came back, John was grinning. He told him that he was done but that they should wait for a few days to let it dry.

“Alright,” Alex said. “Now go take a shower!”

John pecked him unexpectedly on the lips and bounced toward the bathroom. Alex hesitated a second but decided that he was pretty sweaty after his walk and should join him. The rush of endorphins John experienced after completing a project never felt to turn him on. The good news was, it has the exact same effect on John.

After almost a week of being forced to sleep in his office _and_ being banned from his own bedroom, Alex was grumpy. That and curiosity was eating him alive. What was it that John had decided they would see before falling asleep every night?

When he came back home on Wednesday though, John tugged him toward the bedroom door but not before he insisted on covering Alexander’s eyes.

“You’ve waited this long, a few more minutes won’t kill you!” he laughed.

“It just might!” Alex insisted pouting. In the end, he complied because John was making his puppy eyes and Alex always gave in when John was making his puppy eyes.

John led him into to the bedroom quietly. He tilted Alexander’s head up gently and placed a kiss on the back of his head before putting his hands away.

Alex blinked a couple of times, adjusting. Before his eyes was a night sky as if it was floating on a cloud. Stars were twinkling and the all thing was painted in a very Van Gogh fashion.

“You painted your own _Starry Night,”_ he said slowly. John nodded, fidgeting while he waited for his boyfriend’s verdict. Finally Alex exclaimed: _“You nerdy sap!”_ and tackled him to the bed – which had been removed from its plastic cover.

John fell down, giggling. Alex straddled him before kissing him soundlessly. _God he loved that man._ And right now, there was one question he was dying to ask. It was time.

“Marry me,” he breathed out when they eventually parted.

“What?” John said, a little dazed.

“Marry me,” Alex repeated.

“Because I painted the ceiling?”

“No! Well yes!” Alex exclaimed. “Wait! I’m not doing it right!” and he wriggled off of John to reach for his nightstand. He fumbled a bit but managed to find the little velvet box he had bought a few years back. He had never got around to find another hiding place and John had never looked. John was now sitting with his back against the headboard and Alex went to kneel between his legs. He opened it, revealing the silver band he and Laf had chosen.

“When did you get that?” John murmured, eyes wild.

“Hum, the week after they legalized same-sex marriage?”

 _“Two years ago?”_ John exclaimed, shocked.

“Uh, yes?” Alex wasn’t sure how this had turned out to be him replying to John’s questions when one of his still remained inconveniently unanswered. “I mean… I knew you were the love of my life so when the law passed, it just made sense I guess? I didn’t plan on doing it right away, we weren’t ready yet but I just… liked the idea that if I decided to do it I would already have the ring? There were a few times when it came close but it never felt quite right...”

“And now?” John asked with a small smile.

“You just Van Goghed our room ceiling!” Alex almost laughed. “That’s just so… you! That’s who I fell in love with! And I know _I know_ that there’s nobody else I’ll ever love like that in my entire life. So,” he took a deep breath, “John Laurens, will you do me the honor of calling me your husband until the day I die?”

John was smiling. John was crying. John was nodding. And suddenly, John was kissing him full force. They parted long enough for Alex to slide the ring on John’s finger. Alex kissed his knuckles and realized he was crying too. And laughing and feeling so utterly happy.

John kissed him, tender and slow. They had time. They had the rest of their life.

**Author's Note:**

> Alright, quick translations:  
> “Au pire tu auras une idée de ce que tu veux, t’es pas obligé d’acheter quelque chose aujourd’hui!” = At least you'll get an idea of what you want, you don't have to buy anything today!"  
> “Je t’ai dit que je comptais pas le demander en mariage tout de suite! Pas la peine d’essayer de me faire changer d’avis!” = "I told you I wasn't gonna propose right now! No need to try to make me change my mind!"  
> “Comme si j’avais ce pouvoir” = "As if I had that power"  
> “Fête de l’Humanité, c’est ambitieux mais c’est beau.” = "Party of the Humankind, it's ambitious but it's beautiful." 
> 
> Please let a kudo or a comment to let me know what you think of this! I started writing the next part and it's definitively not happy. But it's a piece that'll be very important and very personal. We'll learn why John is now seeing a therapist. 
> 
> In the meantime, if you want more infos or send prompts or headcanon, this serie has a [ sideblog ](http://smallcitygreatrenown.tumblr.com/) and I have a [ Tumblr ](http://i-dreamthedream.tumblr.com/)


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